Peter Smolárik, Slovakia’s representative at the 2014 Korea Prime Minister Cup, is a university student who has been an active go player for more than half his life. His extensive tournament career in Slovakia includes 2nd place in the Košice City Championship last November, 5th place in the Slovak Championship last May, and 9th place at the Slovak Go Festival last June. In the KPMC he scored one win, over a young opponent from Australia. Ranka talked to him during the lunch break on the second day.

Ranka: How do you like being in Korea?
Peter: This is my first time in Korea and it’s been very good.

Ranka: Do you see any similarities between Korea and Slovakia?
Peter: Both have lots of natural beauty, lots of mountains and hills, and very good skiing.

Ranka: Do you ski?
Peter: No, but the mountains and hills are also good for bicycle riding, which I enjoy.

Ranka: Please tell us how you learned to play go?
Peter: I learned from my father, more than ten years ago, and after that, I went to go clubs. We have a couple of clubs in Košice, where I live, and some more in Bratislava. Mostly I play at the Košice go club, but when I have time I’ll go to other clubs for tournaments and competitions.

Ranka: How many tournaments does Slovakia have per year?
Peter: About ten.

Ranka: We understand that Pavol Lisy, who recently became the first European go player to qualify as a pro in Europe, also lives in Košice. Has his becoming a pro made any big changes?
Peter: It didn’t draw a big reaction from the news media, but one change it made was that he couldn’t come here to the KPMC. So I came instead. But Pavol can still compete in other amateur tournaments in Slovakia.

Ranka: Thank you and good luck this afternoon.

Photo: Ito Toshiko